IFR training

[sean1]

I wonder if anyone has any recomendations on where to do the IFR course in UK.Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated..

[CSX001]

Bristol is pretty good.

Charlie

xx

[Evo]

By "IFR course", do you mean the Instrument Rating (IR) or IMC Rating?

[CSX001]

Humour.... this early on a Friday :D:D:D

[StrateandLevel]

Its a long way from Singapore to do an IMC rating, which would not be valid there anyway!

[sean1]

Will be in London for 6 months and will try to fit in a IFR rating.

[Stan Evil]

Sean1 - before anyone can give you a sensible reply we need to know:

What class and nationality of licence do you hold?

Do you just want training or do you want a qualification - like an Instrument Rating?

If you hold a non-JAA licence will the issuing authority accept training and testing in the UK?

Once this is sorted out, you may get a larger response on the Wannabes Forum.

[sean1]

Thanks for the advice.Here goes:

I have a singapore PPL.I went up north to an airfield in Malaysia for an air carnival.The weather was very marginal when we left.

About half way there wx deterioted to IMC.Where I flew in instrument conditions for about 1hr.- Cloud base 800ft,rain.vis 1km.I did not feel comfortable at all but the rhs pilot[SQ capt] was having a great time up there with the Garmin!.

i guess after that expreience i figured it would a good stepup to progress to a IFR rating.

I am open to any suggestions.Its a toss up between AUS and UK but i have to be in London for an extended time anyways.

Thanks in advance everybody.

[FlyingForFun]

Sean,

There are two possible ratings in the UK which let you fly in clouds. Unfortunately, I don't think either is going to help you.

The IMC rating is the one which many private pilots get. But it can only be added to a UK license, and it is invalid outside the UK. Hence, you can't get the rating, and even if you could it would be no use once you go back home.

The Instrument Rating (IR) is generally the domain of commercial pilots - that's because the amount of groundschool required is seriously excessive (several hundred hours). Also, very few schools offer the groundschool training at all, because most commercial wannabes do the ATPL exams, which basically combines the IR exams with the CPL exams, so there is very little demand for the IR exams on their own.

Sorry.

FFF
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[DFC]

Sean,

Ignore all references to an "IMC" rating. This is a local UK rating not recognised anywhere else in the world.

What you want to do is obtain an Instrument Rating.

In order to obtain an instrument rating, you must basically;

a) Complete certain Ground exams laid down by the relevant authority

b) Demonstrate certain medical standards with respect to hearing

c) Complete training

d) Pass a flight test

Considering your situation, I think that you need to complete a) and b) above before traveling to Europe.

In advance, you must also check out as many training providers as possible and make sure you are getting value for money based on what training your national authority requires.

Prior to commencing training in Europe, you must obtain a letter from your national aviation authority approving your intentions to train at a certain school covering a certain sylabus and completing a flight test at the end using a European examminer or completing a flight test on return home.

Overall, the important thing is to have everything in writing so that you do not spend a small fortune in Europe training only to finad that you require to spend another large fortune at home meeting local requirements.

Make sure that the amount charged by a UK school is the same as charged to local pilots completing local courses....they do love to charge extra...example JAA IR course (55 hours) £12,000. 15 Hours twin IR training.......£8,500......work that one out!!!

Finally if you are based in London then do not forget that France is close at hand and mostly operates on a non-profit basis for training while Ireland is also close at hand an offers training at cheaper rates due to the lower costs of may operators some of which are also operating on a non-profit basis and thanks to the Euro, prices across Europe except the UK can be compared.

Regards,

DFC

[englishal]

You may want to consider the FAA IR. Its all words really, one IR is as good as the other, but the way I understand it from my mate whos a pilot in Singapore is that the FAA licences and ratings are pretty well recognised in Asia. I couldn't tell you if this is true or not, just what I've heard on my travels. You could then convert to a local rating.

If so, you can either come across to the US for say 2 weeks and do the FAA IR (instrument rating) in the USA for about $5000 US (dependant on your current qualifications) or take the course in Enstone, Oxfordshire which is fairly near London.

There are numerous advantages with the FAA IR as opposed to the JAA IR for the private pilot, its more affordable, doesn't expire, has one written ground exam, and is easy to maintain.....

Good luck!

EA:D

[sean1]

I guess i have to re-think this one...

Basically the motivation was to do the training to be more comfortable [read less spooked!] in IMC conditions and to improve my proficiency.

Great advice from everyone, thanks a million.